Runner Xenomorphs - Idea

[EmanTheAlmighty]

Runners are fast, small, red xenomorphs, and I think that they should be added to paradise station, but not because "they're cool", they would be good to balance a small thing out.

Currently, xenomorphs can EASILY snatch a bunch of monkeys from the usual places and increase their population in no time and especially unnoticed. Monkeys don't have sensors and don't scream on comms.

My idea is to make monkeys produce runners. The larva that would come from a monkey would be a stronger version of the normal larva, which would appearence-wise be bigger and have four legs, like a runner. This more aggressive larva will however take longer to grow, and when it can evolve, it will only be able to evolve into a runner. This means that you CAN use a weak host that doesn't even fight back and has no mind, but the alien that will grow from it will be initially weaker, and take longer to reach its full potential. (So it goes monkey>runner larva>runner)

Runners are still capable of hiding like larvas, and do not have any special ability except for their decent speed.

Runners can evolve into a drone, hunter or sentinel by waiting the same time it took to evolve into a runner or eating someone. They have to either WAIT a lot, or devour someone and let them die inside of them. Once this happens the person they devoured will be regurgitated as a husk and the runner will be able to evolve right away.

Inevitably, this will mean that the starting xenomorph that hunts for prey will more likely decide to go for actual humans rather than monkeys, since they need strong aliens to defend the queen as soon as possible.

[Abydos]

https://cm-ss13.com/wiki/Runner

[Medi]

I know what you're talking about with this suggestion, my only issue with it is that runners are, in of themselves, extremely dangerous due to their speed despite their lack of a large health pool. Couple with this with their ability to vent crawl and do loads of stun and slashing damage makes them an extremely good fighter within our meta due to the fact that most weapons we have on the station that aren't melee generally have very small ammunition capacities unlike the CM weapons that generally are 20-30+. 

Additionally, stealing monkeys IS easy, thus the meta would be to rush getting runners then using the runners to claim more human crew due to their overwhelming advantages that I honestly would say are better then current xenos on the station. 

The only way this could theoretically work is if you made them extremely low health and made their stuns very short. This would change their role into a very hit and run kind of tactic that wouldn't support them rushing the station, especially if the crew was coordinated.

[EmanTheAlmighty]

I intend the runners to be a step below the normal aliens we know. I would only allow them to hide as their "ability". Their speed wouldn't be super high either. They would die really easily with a few good shots.

In addition, I should add that they should not be able to:

1) Hold huggers. I don't see how they could, so that means that they can't be used to easily run into crew and mass infect them either.

2) Spread weeds. That would probably become annoying real fast.

However, I can see them being used to help deal with exosuits.

Perhaps once a runner reaches the ability to evolve they could become slightly stronger too for those who want to stay as a runner for the reason above.